John Henry Oates, known as Harry, 29, died while out on a run after he came into contact with the cable and was killed instantly in October 2023.

The electrical conductor came loose from its usual position and was suspended on equipment lower down on a pole.

This meant the conductor was not earthed and remained live, posing a lethal threat to anyone who came into contact with it.

UK Power Networks services Norfolk (Image: UK Power Networks)

An inquest into his death took place last month and was overseen by Kirsty Gomersal, the senior coroner for Cumbria – the county where the tragedy happened.

Concerned there may be a chance of such an incident happening again – despite the death concluded as being from “a rare and complex sequence of events” - Miss Gomersal was prompted to issue a report to prevent future deaths.

The coroner addressed her report to the Electricity Networks Association and copied in Electricity North West Limited (ENWL) - now trading as SP Electricity North – the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) responsible for the electrical conductor.

But the report was also shared with several other DNOs across the country, including UK Power Networks, which maintains electricity across the East of England.

Throughout Mr Oates’ inquest, ENWL stressed the incident happened because of a unique chain of events and was ultimately unforeseeable.

Before his death, he had been on a training run on a public footpath field at Badger Gate, close to the town of Kendal, when he came into contact with a low-hanging 11kv electrical conductor and was killed immediately.

The conductor had released from its usual position two days earlier and became suspended on equipment lower down the pole, meaning that the conductor did not go to earth and remained live

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© Norwich Evening News